Qur’an as the Main Source of Islamic Culture (1/2)

The final message sought to convince people by asking them to read, listen and understand the Qur’an. The first command is to read and understand the revealed Message. It rests upon Allah[1] to reveal, send down and safeguard the Qur’an for mankind so that they fulfill their role as vicegerents.

Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the very word of Allah Almighty: a complete record of the exact words revealed by Allah through the Archangel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).

The Qur’an was memorized by Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and his companions, dictated to his followers, and written down by scribes, who cross-checked it during the Prophet’s lifetime. Not one word of its 114 surahs (chapters) has been changed over the centuries. The Qur’an is in every detail the same unique and miraculous text that was revealed to Muhammad more than fourteen centuries ago. The Qur’an contains basic conceptions and general rules, guidance and advice valid for all human beings in every place and time in every aspect of life.

Allah Promises to Guard the Qur’an:

Allah says, “It is We who have sent down the Reminder and We will, most surely, safeguard it.” (Surah Al-Hijr, 15:9).

Allah mentions many attributes of the Qur’an in the Qur’an itself. The Qur’an defines its own specific qualities. It is said that there are about 50 different names that illustrates the role of the Qur’an in our lives.

The Qur’an, for mankind, is like a “compass” in their turbulent voyage of life, as it has explained itself in the following verses:

“…A light has now come to you from Allah and a clear Book, whereby Allah guides to the ways of peace all who seek His good pleasure, bringing them from darkness to the light, by His will, and guiding them to a straight path.” (Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:15-16).

“The Qur’an introduces itself as the guidance for the people”, (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:185); “and the manifest light.” (Surah An-Nisa', 4:174).

Allah Has laid down very clear solutions for every human problem in the Qur’an.

Whenever the Qur’an mentions “darkness”, it always uses it in the plural form although it always uses “light” in the singular form. This means that the term ‘darkness’ includes all sorts of darkness, all of the evil ways that lead towards darkness, and that ‘light’ signifies one single right path.

The Qur’an determines its goal as: breaking the chains of ignorance, misguidance, moral and social corruption and destruction, or dissipating all sorts of ‘darkness’ as well as guiding humanity in the direction of ‘justice, goodness and light’.

“This is the book; in it is guidance for sure without doubt, to those who fear Allah”. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:2)

“And this is a book which We have revealed as a blessing, so follow it and be righteous, that you may receive mercy”. (Surah Al-An'am, 6:155)

Al-Harith Al-Hamadani related the following: “I entered the mosque and some persons were in deep controversy about some traditions. I went to ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib and said: ‘Are you aware that people at the mosque are in dispute over hadith?’ He said, ‘So they have done it!’ I said, ‘Yes!’ He said, ‘I have indeed heard the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) saying, “There shall be sedition (fitna) after me.” ‘I asked: ‘And how do we avoid that?’”

The Book of Allah, the Book of Allah! In it is the information about those who were before you and what will come after you, and it will be the judge among you.

Whoever seeks guidance in anything other than it, Allah will lead him astray. It is the firm rope of Allah. It is the wise remembrance. It is the straight path. With it, hearts will never deviate, nor will the tongues utter confusion.

Scholars will never have their full of it; it will not wear out from constant use, nor will its wonders cease to amaze you.

The Inimitability of the Qur’an:

The Arabic word, ‘Qur’an’ linguistically means both ‘recitation’ and ‘reading’. Similarly, the Qur’an was both recited orally and written down in text form.

The true power of the Qur’an remains in the oral recitation, as it is meant to be read in audible voice and melodiously, but still the verses were written down on available materials as an aid to memorizing and guarding it, and these were collected and sorted in book form both on the individual-level and, at a later stage, on the institutional-level. The Qur’an is not meant to relate chronological stories, and thus, the Qur’an should not be viewed as a sequential narrative like the book of Genesis.

The Arabic book that goes by the name Qur’an is about 600 pages in length.

The Qur’an is composed of 114 parts or chapters of unequal length. Each chapter is called a surah in Arabic and each sentence or phrase of the Qur’an is called an ayah, literally ‘a sign’.

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